What’s Fancy Chocolate Made Of That Makes It So Expensive?

You can walk into any old drugstore and buy a Hershey’s chocolate bar for around a dollar, but a single-origin Malagascar chocolate bar from Salt Lake City-based Solstice Chocolate will cost you $9, and a single-origin Costa Rican chocolate bar from Asheville, North Carolina’s French Broad Chocolates costs even more ($11). What gives?

There are significant differences between mass-produced chocolate bars ― think Hershey’s, Mars, Nestlé and the like ― and their small-batch, bean-to-bar counterparts.But the biggest difference that you, the customer, will notice is probably the price.

Turns out that in many cases, the higher cost is justified. Here’s why. MORE…..